Ruben (Pampanga)

9:56:00 AM
Phantasm Darkstar
0 Comment(s)

During The KTG's weekend staycation in Pampanga at the Best Western Bendix Hotel, we dined at Ruben for dinner and brunch and our experience with their dishes and cocktails was amazing.

Ruben is a cafe, restaurant, and bar located at the ground floor of Best Western Bendix Hotel in San Fernando, Pampanga. It is inspired by its namesake, Ruben Patawaran and his endless love for travel, food, and good company.

Upon entering Ruben, while it is festive and ornate, you still experience a warm homey feeling. You would easily want to bring friends and family with you so you may share this unique Ruben experience.

Ruben aims to deliver the best specialty coffee and cocktail experience through quality and fresh ingredients. It is your comfy nook from morning 'til noon--read a book, hold a meeting or have a boozy brunch with your friends. At night, they turn work hours into happy hours with signature dishes and cocktails from around the world that will have you saying, "Salut!" for the rest of the night.

Here are the dishes that we tried (I already combined the dishes that we had for brunch and dinner):

Soup

Creamy Spanish-Style Garlic Soup. Creamy and garlicky soup broth. It's so good but there is something about this dish that makes it mysterious. It tastes like it has shrimp broth in it.

Salads

Arugula and French Cheese Salad. Arugula leaves with French cream cheese, cherry tomatoes drizzled with pesto dressing. I don't usually put salads as part of my top picks/favorites for a resto; this one is an exemption. It's really good. The pesto dressing is underneath. Don't forget to mix it well.

Doña Dita Salad. Prosciutto, French cream cheese and grilled chicken tossed with seasonal greens and cherry tomatoes with a citrus vinaigrette dressing. Doña Dita's favorite. I love prosciutto. I like the mix of flavors and textures in this salad as well as the citrus vinaigrette. It's a good balance.

Starters

The Best Nachos in Town. Nachos with cheese, beef chunks, salsa, jalapeños, and garlic cream sauce. Topped with melted mozzarella.

Fried Spanish Sardines. Spanish sardines breaded and deep fried to a golden crisp. This is one innovative dish, I would say. Breaded sardines. Cool!

Sizzling Crispy Pork Belly Adobo. Slow roasted pork belly with Ruben's adobo sauce, deep-fried potatoes with garlic and tomato confit. Topped with salted egg. Their version of adobo is good. The pork belly is tender and the salted egg also complements the adobo well.

Lechon Pork Belly with Truffle Lechon Sauce. Roasted crispy pork belly with a special truffle lechon sauce. This one is really crispy. Also classy because of the truffle lechon sauce. It's amazing!

Sizzling Corned Beef Sinigang. A twist on a Filipino classic. A deconstructed sinigang dish with corned beef brisket and gravy garlic confit. The first time that I tried sizzling sinigang was at Locavore. The dish itself is good but the idea of calling it sinigang makes me look for the sour taste that isn't garlicky.

Salmon Fillet with Beurre Blanc. Pan-seared salmon fillet with creamy butter sauce on top of mashed potatoes, spinach and French beans. I love the texture of this one. I'm not a fan of cooked salmon but this one got me. It's tender and buttery--like it melts in your mouth. It's good.

Wraps and Sandwiches

Ruben Cheeseburger. An all-beef burger with lettuce, tomato, cheddar and crisp shoestring potatoes in a buttery brioche bun. Served with French fries. Sating and good.

Aligue Pasta. 100% Aligue cooked in coconut milk, cilantro, and lime topped with half a river prawn. This is my favorite pick among the pastas served. Careful though, you might have an increased blood pressure.

A registered nurse and Emergency Medical Technician, finishing her Master of Arts in Nursing, Major in Medical-Surgical Nursing, Minor in Psychiatric Nursing. An instructor, freelance model, makeup artist and host. A bit of a geek and has a wide range of interests: from gaming, music, adventure, travel, fashion, and foodtrips to medical researches, surgery, emergency cases and psychology. Always game to try out new things and learn new ways of doing things.

You Might Also Like

0
comments:

About Me

I have been on a very long blogging hiatus (I started blogging in 2006) but the images from my former blog got corrupted, so I came up with this new site.

At first, I was planning to rebuild my blog and put almost anything here. From serious lectures, to reviews, and other random stuff (food, gaming, fashion, travel, medicine, beauty, etc.) But as you can see, it is 60% about food and 40% lifestyle/travel/nightlife. Enjoy! ^_^